Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2017
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Page: A12

MUCH RIDES ON POT POLICY

The Liberals would be wise to move quickly and get it
right

News that Justin Trudeau's Liberals are preparing to table legislation
to legalize pot next month have appeared, no doubt uncoincidentally,
at a moment when the government's progressive bona fides are under
increasingly vigorous attack.

The old saw that Liberals run on the left and govern on the right
seems to broadly apply to Trudeau's party. Take its abandoned promise
on electoral reform, its unambitious second budget, troubling delays
on new transparency measures and tax-code changes, as well as a mixed
record on indigenous reconciliation. It would be fair to say, at
least, that the Liberals have disappointed a good number of
left-leaning critics.

This, as one might expect, has given new energy to New Democrats.
During Sunday's NDP leadership debate, the candidates enumerated with
relish a litany of broken or undelivered Liberal commitments, focusing
on one promise in particular: the legalization of marijuana.

But now that complaint seems to have been neutralized. As first
reported by CBC News, the government is planning to bring in
legislation next month with the aim of legalizing pot by July 1 of
next year.

This is welcome news. Some 70 per cent of Canadians support
legalization and the evidence suggests that, if done right, it will do
much more good than harm. Moreover, the longer it takes the government
to act on its promise, the longer the current destructive confusion
around pot laws will persist.

During their debate, NDP candidates excoriated the Liberals for
continuing to support the enforcement of anti-pot laws even as Ottawa
moves to legalize the substance. But once the government decided not
to decriminalize marijuana in the interim, it's not clear what choice
it had. Pot is illegal until it isn't, however awkward the intervening
months.

Now that the government seems set actually to move on its promise, the
challenge will be to get the details right. That is, to write laws
that are enforceable, maximize the potential benefits and mitigate the
risks.

Early signals are encouraging. It seems the legislation will generally
follow the guidelines set out last year by a federal task force
chaired by former justice minister Anne McLellan. These are by and
large sensible.

The government, for instance, appears poised to set a national minimum
age for buying and consuming cannabis at 18. This would run counter to
a recommendation from the Canadian Medical Association that the age
limit be put at 21 to avoid damage to developing brains. But the lower
limit is sound. The reality is that 18 to 20 is the prime age for
experimenting with pot. Banning these people from getting the drug
legally would all but guarantee the continuation of a thriving black
market and would do little to keep pot out of their hands.

That said, legalization does raise real public-health concerns. The
government should take seriously the task force's recommendations to
redirect tax money toward public education and research on the drug's
health effects. It should also consider investing more in addiction
services for young people, which are now scarce and
underfunded.

By necessity, many key details, such as where marijuana will be sold
and for how much, will be determined at the provincial level. It will
be important for Ottawa to work with the provinces to ensure that
lower governments, especially those opposed to legalization, do not
undermine its benefits by, for instance, unduly limiting accessibility
or setting overly restrictive age limits or prices.

The Liberal promise to legalize pot was among the party's earliest
appeals to young and progressive voters. More than a year after
Trudeau's election victory, many among this group have grown
skeptical. For both country and party, Trudeau would be wise to move
quickly on legalization - and to be careful to get it right.
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MAP posted-by: Matt